New Backyard and Playset

For years we've wished we had a backyard to play in with Collin, but we instead have had a forest to admire from our screened-in porch and most of our outside time at home has been spent playing baseball or basketball in the driveway. This year, with a little help from my parents we decided to do something about it. The transformation began with getting some grading and stone work done by a landscape company in mid June. We decided against the idea of grass because we had way too many LARGE trees to cut down and to even attempt to get enough sun. We instead worked with what we had and kept all the trees, which makes for a very shady and cool spot in the summer. We have a nice stone patio, stone retaining walls and an area for a playset. Here are some pictures of what our yard looked like mid-June... (you can click on these pictures to see more)

The last weekend of June Mike bought and assembled the playset for the boys. Our friend Ed was in town from Dallas and was helpful. Mike worked ALL Saturday, from 6 AM to 6 PM. I took Ed on a hike and we played tennis so he could enjoy his vacation but it happened to be one of the hottest weekends we had all summer.

The boys LOVE their playset, and for several weeks was hard to get them to go anywhere since they enjoy their backyard so much. We used to play in the playroom in the morning, but now both of the boys want to be outside by 8 AM. Carson brings me his shoes immediately after breakfast, and Collin suits up in whatever his outfit of the week is (usually his "transformer shorts" with a belt, sometimes his Lightning McQueen boots, and oftentimes other accessories, such as a knight costume, or pirate patch and a pasta strainer he wears as a hat. The imagination of a four-year-old is amazing! I have to say it's been sorta nice to stay home more…there were days we didn't even leave the house until 2 PM because we'd wait for Carson to have his nap and then leave after lunch.

Mike spent nearly every waking weekend moment of July on building a new section of our deck, but the project moved pretty quickly due to his hard work and focus despite both boys wanting to "help" Be sure to see the pictures of Carson using his drill...he wanted to do anything Mike was doing and couldn't stand to be too far away. He finished the majority of the deck in just two weekends less than an hour before it began raining.

I've spent quite a bit of time sanding and staining the playset and was finally able to finish when Mike's parents came in town. Mike built an entire deck in just a few weekends and it took me longer than that to stain the structure. Of course, I was responsible for trying to keep the boys out of his way and I took advantage of Carson’s nap times to do other things, like a bike ride, tennis or other work. Mike's dad was a huge help the first week of August at building a bench while Mike's mom was a great help with the boys and helping me finish staining. Other than staining, the deck is mostly complete after their visit after Mike & his dad installed a bench and a planter. This fall we'll need to do some landscaping, but we love having a backyard to enjoy!